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I recently disabled AdBlock Plus --- after just using it for years unthinkingly --- and found my browser memory dropped by a third. Using Icecat ( = Firefox 24, because Firefox just sucks like a minimalistic Chrome twin now ), but also tested on my Firefox installation.

Kind of strange how all these reports of Open Source vulnerabilities are increasing recently. Despite the fact that, as in Heartbleed, hyped to the max, very few actual bad things seem to happen. Almost as if it were coordinated.

An anonymous reader writes "These overall allegations state that Britam had been offered large quantities of cash to recruit Russian-speaking legionnaires who could discharge a chemical weapon inside Syria with the approval of the US government."Link to Original Source

Get rid of all of them except.com. Just don't issue any others, and leave the ones already there until attrition destroys them.

There's no actual value to having different tlds for the website xxxxxx, other than to make money for domain sellers, who frighten the owner ( renter ) of xxxxxx.com into buying more domains for the same site to stop competitors from using xxxxxx.net or xxxxxx.org. I have never come across a real site whose domain name led to an entirely unrelated site run by different owners based on the.yyy.

Should one imagine this would lead to not enough site names, there are enough words to be combined in any language and enough languages to accommodate millions of sites. Plus losing the fake/crap sites ---scraper-sites for just one instance --- would not harm the internet at all.

The researcher who discovered the flaw used the Cookie Cadger tool to hijack a session over an unprotected wireless network and was granted full admin access to the user's database.

The specific conditions under which the flaw exists were not revealed. It was a flaw only because Google forces its Apps Engine users onto encrypted HTTPS which prevents this type of interception."Link to Original Source

another random user sends word of a case in Pennsylvania District Court in which Judge Michael Baylson has ordered a trial to resolve the issue of whether an IP address can identify a particular person. The plaintiff, Malibu Media, has filed 349 lawsuits against groups of alleged infringers, arguing that getting subscriber information from an ISP based on an IP address that participated in file-sharing was suitable for identification purposes. A motion filed by the defendants in this case explains "how computer-based technology would allow non-subscribers to access a particular IP address," leading Judge Baylson to rule that a trial is "necessary to find the truth."
"The Bellwether trial will be the first time that actual evidence against alleged BitTorrent infringers is tested in court. This is relevant because the main piece of evidence the copyright holders have is an IP-address, which by itself doesn't identify a person but merely a connection. ... Considering what's at stake, it would be no surprise if parties such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are willing to join in. They are known to get involved in crucial copyright troll cases, siding with the defendants. We asked the group for a comment, but have yet to receive a response. On the other side, Malibu Media may get help from other copyright holders who are engaged in mass-BitTorrent lawsuits. A ruling against the copyright holder may severely obstruct the thus far lucrative settlement business model, meaning that millions of dollars are at stake for these companies. Without a doubt, the trial is expected to set an important precedent for the future of mass-BitTorrent lawsuits in the U.S. One to watch for sure."

jjp9999 (2180664) writes "The Epoch Times reports that on Monday, the same day the Intelligence Committee released its report cautioning against Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE, the US said it will reject major changes to telecom at the World Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference in Dubai this December. The UN conference will be the first of its kind since 1988, and its members are pressing the US to hand control of governing the Internet over to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Huawei and ZTE are both members of the ITU. Terry Kramer, the US special envoy to the conference, said the US opposes proposals from some of the “nondemocratic nations” that include tracking and monitoring content and user information, which “makes it very easy for nations to monitor traffic.”"Link to Original Source

colinneagle writes with news that Facebook is beginning to roll out tests of "want" and "collect" buttons in an attempt to bring users and retailers closer together.
"The company is working with Victoria's Secret, Pottery Barn, Michael Kors, Wayfair, Neiman Marcus, Fab.com and Smith Optics. The difference between 'liking' and 'wanting' would be like discovering the holy grail of datamining. Inside Facebook said that although the 'Want' button is different than the Want plugin that developer Tom Waddington noticed in June, the company may eventually offer it as a plugin. Unsurprisingly, Facebook wants to keep people on the site as opposed to leaving to visit Pinterest. Collections will offer retailers a Pinterest-like option to engage buyers, offer users a way to collect images, while also collecting even more data about users. For example, Facebook asks, 'Why are you collecting this?' Regardless of a user's answer, the wants and collects will surely be used to deliver targeted ads. Eventually, the Collections feature could help Facebook generate more revenue."

An anonymous reader writes "A prototype communications satellite flying as a secondary payload aboard a Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket was sent into the wrong orbit because of a problem during launch Sunday evening, officials said Tuesday."Link to Original Source